Field of the Invention
The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to industrial machines and, more specifically, to the scheduling of operations, operating parameters and human operators on these machines.
Brief Description of the Related Art
Various types of industrial and other machines are used to perform various manufacturing and industrial operations and tasks. For instance, some machines are used to create and finish parts associated with wind turbines. Other machines are used to create mechanical parts or components utilized by vehicles. Still other machines are used to produce electrical parts (e.g., resistors, capacitors, and inductors to mention a few examples). In industrial settings, industrial machines may be used for power generation, water treatment, fossil fuel extraction and other endeavors requiring the interoperation of multiple machines in a coordinated and complex manner. Typically, industrial machines are controlled at least in part by computer code (or a computer program) that is executed by a processor that is located at the machine.
Machines are sometimes organized together into production lines (or into groups or associations such as a windfarm). A multitude of factors affect the operation and efficiency of these production lines or groupings. For example, different human operators may operate different machines. Each of these operators has different skill sets, different schedules, different strengths, and different weaknesses. Various products may also need to be produced at different machines and different times requiring the machines to be re-configured for the production of different components. These factors may and often do change over time.
Because of these issues, production lines are typically not scheduled to produce products in the most efficient ways. Insufficient schedules have created various inefficiencies in the operation of production lines resulting in late deliveries of products among other problems.
Previous attempts to address these problems have been made, but unfortunately, have not been successful.